Ducts are found extensively in commercial and industrial buildings. Ducts are used for conveying heated air and toxic gases as a part of many power plants' electricity generating systems. They are also used for directing the flow of gases in many industrial processes. A necessary part of such ducts is the provision of dampers for regulating and isolating the flow of air and other gases through the ducts. There are various types of dampers. One widely used damper is commonly referred to as a slide gate damper. These dampers have gates which are essentially flat surfaces. The gates function by sliding in a track from outside a duct, through the duct wall, and into the duct passageway. Such dampers are used in ducts having cross surface areas ranging from about one square foot to about 500 square feet.
Gates on the dampers can be manually operated, though, because of their size and placement, are normally provided with a power source. A power source such as a electric motor with a drive mechanism is associated with the gate to open or close the gate in response to a command. The power source and drive mechanism for many slide gates require extensive mechanical drive components. Additionally, sufficient space must be allowed for all the necessary components to connect the power source to the gate. The resultant support frames, power source and drive mechanisms are very heavy overall.
There has now been developed an opening and closing system for slide gate dampers which requires a minimum of support structure. The motor and drive mechanism of the system make use of known dampers with a minimum of structural change required.